Godolphin’s Benbatl looks to breach Maximum Security at Saudi Cup
- 27 Feb 2020
Godolphin’s tri-continental Group 1 winner Benbatl arrived into Saudi Arabia from his Dubai base on Wednesday afternoon with the remainder of the Godolphin contingent.
The Saeed Bin Suroor-trained son of Dubawi is rated 125, the highest of any horse competing on the Saudi Cup card.
A win for the 10-time Group 1 performer would be another highlight in the storied career of his conditioner, who has won Group 1 races in Great Britain, Australia, Canada, Germany, France, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Singapore, US and UAE.
“It would mean a lot for us to win,” Bin Suroor said.
“It is the first ever Saudi Cup and the first big international race in Saudi. It is a very important race and would be important for us to see him run well and win.
Benbatl, the highest rated horse in the 14-horse field, will break from stall 3, in the race to be held on Saturday night.
He exits a victory in the Group 2 Al Maktoum Challenge Round 2 at Meydan Racecourse. A winner of half his 20 starts, he has earned more than $5.7 million, while winning top-level affairs in UAE, Australia and Germany.
Additionally, he owns a Royal Ascot victory when landing the Group 3 Hampton Court in 2017.
“He is doing well,” Bin Suroor said from Dubai. “His work on Thursday went very well and I’m happy with him. The race is very tough, with coming from America, Europe and Japan and are all very good horses who are good dirt horses.
“Benbatl won one time on the dirt in Dubai in his last run in the Maktoum Challenge, which was a nice trial for him to see if he could handle it and he handled it well.
“So far, we are happy with him since and looking forward to a good run from him,” he continued.
“The (1800m) distance is fine and the surface doesn’t matter when it comes to the distance. If you look at the last time he ran, he ran very well going (1900m), just like he has on turf, and we can even go a mile and a quarter with him.”
Meanwhile, five American horses are in the field as favorites including champions Maximum Security and Midnight Bisou. Maximum Security was drawn at post seven for the Saudi Cup. He had an easy gallop around the quarantine training track. He was out on the dirt track on Thursday morning.
“I thought Max shipped really well. I weighed him before he left and when he got here and he lost 27lbs. We weighed him yesterday and he had gained back 11lbs. So we are feeling OK,” said trainer Jason Servis.
Chrysoberyl, cantered steadily for half a lap on the dirt track this morning.
“He lost about 20kg during his journey to Saudi Arabia, which was an initial concern, but he was very relaxed today.
“He has been eating very well for the couple of days, so his condition is getting better. Christophe Soumillon will breeze him tomorrow,” said trainer Hidetaka Otonashi.
Gold Dream of Japan had some light exercise in the quarantine stable area.
“He is getting familiarised with the new surroundings. I think all has gone well so far as he has never experienced running over the surface,” trainer Osamu Hirata said.
“He is in good shape and has been the same as how he is at home. My impression with the dirt course is that it has a lot of grip but less kick-back, which is completely different from Japanese dirt tracks.
“I understand the horses in the race will be very very competitive, maybe the best in the world, so I am looking forward to competing with them as one of the top Japanese dirt horses. It has been an honour to be invited to run in such a big event.”
McKinzie and Mucho Gusto, both of the US, will be represented by trainer Bob Baffert, who made his first appearance at the track on Wednesday morning and the affable conditioner was pleased with what he’s seen so far.
“They shipped well,” Baffert said. “They’ve done well. No negatives at all they look healthy and happy. McKinzie looked pretty sharp (this morning). We stood him the gate. The track’s (surface) is pretty nice. They’re both getting over it pretty well.”
